State=inequality

I do not believe that with the current role of the state in social realms of our society will ever be able to achieve complete equality. As was mentioned in the lecture a state is an abstract concept that refers to all forms of social organization representing official power in society; the government, law and social policy, the courts and the criminal justice system, the military and the police. If you think about all of these social organizations that represent official power they are all male dominated and particularly dominated by white upper class males. And the government which is a subset of the state does not represent everybody equally. It benefits the people that are mainly in power in these organizations, white upper class males. It works to both maintain sources of inequality and as an avenue for social justice. It supports citizens in standing up for what they believe in and taking a stand if they see inequality but yet it proves to be supportive of this inequality in how it unevenly supports certain groups. The state also teaches and enforces public behavior and determines how people will govern others and how power is exercised. Gender and race are used to structure these social institutions which in turn establishes social behavior. Many of our perceived stereotypes about different races and genders are ones that are set forth by the state itself. I feel like the inequalities that are seen in social institutions that make up the state make it impossible to ever see complete equality. And many of the stereotypes that run through Americans are reflected through these institutions and I feel like they are very hard to break. I think it is some what unrealistic to expect to see complete equality because no matter what I feel there is always going to be some type of inequality in the institutions that reflect our society.